RT / US lawmakers have agreed to allocate $58 million for research and development of a ground-launched, intermediate-range missile system, which they claim would not be in violation of the crucial 1987 INF treaty with Russia which prohibits such weapons. On Wednesday, House and Senate negotiators authorized the nearly $700 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the Fiscal Year 2018. Part of the deal includes the allocation of $58 million to tackle Russia’s alleged non-compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty.

The Senate Armed Service Committee “authorizes $58 million for measures in response to the Russian violation of the INF treaty, including a research and development program on a ground-launched intermediate-range missile, which would not place the United States in violation of the treaty,” the US lawmakers said .

Previously the US had threatened to scrap the treaty; the only US-Soviet arms control agreement extant from the Cold War era. The deal remains crucial to the stability in Europe, as it bans missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. Section 1635 of the NDAA authorizes the US to develop a new missile system or modify old ones in direct violation of the INF treaty.

Read more ‘Lies, hypocrisy, propaganda’: Russia slams US over claims of nuclear treaty violations “The conferees took a firm view that more needs to be done to make sure that we maintain our competitive advantage against the potential adversary of Russia, and so we took steps to ensure that we have improved our capabilities over the long term to maintain that competitive capability,” a senior House Armed Services Committee staffer told reporters Wednesday, the Hill reported .

Section 1635 mandates the US to “take actions to bring the Russian Federation back into compliance” with the INF deal. In particular it allows the Pentagon to establish “a research and development program for a dual-capable road-mobile ground-launched missile system with a maximum range of 5,500 kilometers.”

The section also mandates Secretary of Defense James Mattis to produce an assessment within 120 days whether or not it is cost-effective or feasible to develop a new missile system, compared with modifying the existing hardware including “the Tomahawk Cruise Missile, the Standard Missile-3, the Standard Missile-6, the Long-Range Stand-Off Cruise Missile, and the Army Tactical Missile System.”

The White House has previously noted that it is “developing an integrated diplomatic, military, and economic response strategy to maximize pressure on Russia.”

— RT (@RT_com) July 18, 2017 The US president is likely to sign the defense budget bill which shows a “$26 billion increase above the President’s combined initial and amended budget requests.” Altogether the NDAA allocated $626 billion for the base budget requirements while authorizing an extra $66 billion for the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) and $8 billion for other defense activities.

Russia: US claims on nuclear missiles treaty unfounded, we have questions too

Washington and Moscow have been trading accusations of violations of the INF Treaty for years now. Moscow says that the US drone program, the target missiles for testing ABM technology, and the placement of a naval vertical launch system, part of the AEGIS Ashore shield, are all in violation of the INF.

Read more ‘We gave you uranium, you repaid us by bombing Belgrade’: Putin slams US over nuclear treaties Earlier this year Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that Russia “remains committed to its international obligations, including under the INF treaty.” Konstantin Kosachev, head of the upper house Committee for International Relations previously warned that Moscow would respond if the US pulled out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty.

While Moscow has not yet issued a comment on the latest NDAA budget, NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Mattis had already briefed the allies on INF treaty developments during the ministerial meeting of the alliance in Brussels.

“The US has determined that Russia is in violation of the INF treaty,” Stoltenberg said adding that the NATO will follow further developments as the “INF treaty is very important and that a strong and viable INF treaty is a pillar for European security.”

“I think that the INF treaty is a cornerstone; it’s extremely important that it is fully implemented so we will continue to call on Russia to address the serious concerns in a substantial, transparent and verifiable way because the INF treaty’s important for all of us,” he added.

Speaking at the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that by not banning air-based and naval launchers the treaty allowed a loophole predominantly benefiting NATO states. He went on to say that it represented “another case of Russia making unilateral concessions.”

“Nonetheless, we are going to comply with its terms providing our partners do so,” Putin said. “If they decide to abandon it, however, our response will be instant and symmetrical.”

san fernando Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley prayed with members of the Muslim community and distributed zakat (charity) to the needy as he celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr at two masjids in San Fernando yesterday. He attended the Eid services on an invitation from Minister of Local Government Kazim Hosein, who is also referred to as a…

gasparillo The mother of a disabled child was shot dead inside her apartment in Gasparillo yesterday. Ornella Philips, 28, was shot once in the chest. Her body was discovered lying in the living room around 10 a.m. The country’s murder toll now stands at 243. Her eight-year-old daughter, Kayla, has cerebral palsy and depends…

ISTANBUL (AP): Turkish police stopped activists for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex rights from gathering in large numbers for an LGBT Pride event in Istanbul yesterday, but smaller groups made impromptu press statements, defying a ban imposed by the governor. Organisers of the 2017 Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride had vowed to march in central Taksim…

LONDON (AP): The list of high-rise apartment towers in Britain that have failed fire-safety tests grew to 60, officials said yesterday, revealing the mounting challenge the government faces in the aftermath of London’s Grenfell Tower fire tragedy. All of the buildings for which external cladding samples were so far submitted failed combustibility tests, Communities Secretary…

BAHAWALPUR (AP): Alerted by an announcement over a mosque’s loudspeaker that an overturned tanker truck had sprung a leak, scores of villagers raced to the scene with fuel containers yesterday to gather the oil. Then the wreck exploded, engulfing people in flames as they screamed in terror. At least 153 men, women and children were…

WASHINGTON (AP): Making a final push, United States President Donald Trump said he doesn’t think congressional Republicans are “that far off” on a health overhaul to replace “the dead carcass of Obamacare”. Expressing frustration, he complained about “the level of hostility” in government and wondered why both parties can’t work together on the Senate bill…

While reliving the horrors experienced by so many families after another spate of bizarre violence across the country last week, I couldn’t help but picture Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett’s rictus grin plastered on television screens while the elderly and even suckling babes were being gruesomely slaughtered inside their homes. While the rest of us were…

News day / CARLA BRIDGLAL AS PETROTRIN restructures in an attempt to return to profitability, the state oil company needs to manage and in some cases mitigate the power and influence of two of its biggest stakeholders: government and the Oilfield Workers Trade Union. “We have a number of stakeholders very visible in Petrotrin’s direction…

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News day / Nickolai Madray The 54th edition of the Southern Games came to a conclusion yesterday evening, at Guaracara Park, Point-A- Pierre, as hundreds of supporters gathered to view a series of sporting activities at the nation’s refinery. The games were sponsored by Petrotrin, TECU Credit Union, Blue Waters and the Ministry of Sport…

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News day / YVONNE WEBB MINISTER of Local Government and Rural Development Kazim Hosein has told residents of Moruga that the Bailey bridge he opened at Sixth Company, Circular Road last Friday, is safe. He said this is the third Bailey bridge constructed in a rural community through the Wooden Bridge Replacement Programme during his…

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News day / NALINEE SEELAL SHORTLY after being arrested yesterday, as he was walking back to a quarry in Valencia where he was hiding, a 38-year-old handyman/mason of Lawrence Village, Guapo, Pt Fortin expressed remorse and gave a confession statement to police, stating that in a fit of uncontrollable rage, he murdered his one-time lover…

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News day / RYAN HAMILTON-DAVIS Two Heineken fans won tickets to the second leg of the Champion’s League semi-finals,last Wednesday, in dramatic fashion, during the third annual Heineken “Share the Drama” promotion held at Digicel IMAX in One Woodbrook Place. Stuart Telfer and Cheyne Jobson were the first of seven winners in the promotion, who…

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News day / OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, this country’s first female prime minister, wrote a letter on the weekend to former Appeal Court judge Paula Mae Weekes, exhorting her to “go brave”, as she prepares today to take up the mantle not only as this country’s sixth President but its first ever female Head of…

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News day / ARCHBISHOP of Port of Spain Jason Gordon, Chief Celebrant at the mass commemorating the Feast of St Joseph that took place at First Capital Park following a procession from the St Joseph RC Church yesterday, told the congregation that TT desperately need the gift of fatherhood, which he likened to St Joseph….

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News day / RICHARDSON DHALAI THE Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) together with the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) and the Emancipation Support Committee (ESC) have pointed out that any attempt to interfere in the internal electoral process in Venezuela, could destabilise the entire Caricom region. Addressing a media conference at the OWTU’s Paramount Building…

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News day / JADA LOUTOO FORMER Chief Justice Michael de La Bastide thinks the prospect of having Chief Justice Ivor Archie “off the scene” has some attraction. It could mean the “voices now raised at an unusually high pitch” might be lowered for the current imbroglio surrounding this country’s third-highest office-holder to be resolved more…

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News day / THE Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (ttff) is partnering with the British Council to strengthen the business and entrepreneurial skills of the local film-maker. In keeping with the ttff’s film-industry development programme 15 experienced film-makers will come together for for a three-day workshop on project proposal writing and pitching from March 23…

News day / Crystal Abraham is 33, unmarried, and childless. She is an educator and writer, and in her free time she enjoys reading, hiking, and singing. Crystal is a practising Catholic, teaches confirmation in her parish church, and is also involved in the parish’s outreach programme to displaced persons. Crystal is currently undergoing treatment…

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News day / PAUL DeVerteuil and Brian Jackson both won titles when the IRP Fire and Safety Limited Senior Graded Open tournament concluded at the Queen’s Park Cricket Club Racquet Centre in St Clair, on Saturday. In the A Division final, DeVerteuil defeated Julian Chin 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 to claim the title. Brandon DeMontrichard outlasted…

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News day / LAUREL V WILLIAMS and RYAN HAMILTON-DAVIS PRAYERS, prayers and more prayers led to the capture of the suspect in last Tuesday’s gruesome murders of four people in La Brea. That was the view of relatives of the murder victims when told yesterday of the suspect’s arrest at a quarry in Valencia. “We…

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News day / RICHARDSON DHALAI PRIME Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s statement that internal politics within the PNM administration of deceased former prime minister Patrick Manning, led to a 12-year delay in the Vieux Fort housing project, was met with shock and bewilderment by Manning’s widow Hazel Manning, who yesterday gave an account of the project…

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News day / BODYBUILDER and avid fitness enthusiast Evan Jackson, is hoping the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs or a Good Samaritan, could come to his assistance as he is now homeless after struggling to find full-time employment over the past three years. Jackson, now 30 years old, started bodybuilding in 2014 after trying…

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News day / JALISA PATRICK is the first winner of the First Citizens Sports Foundation (FCSF) and Nalis Trivia Challenge. Patrick, 17, received a sports watch and bank account valued at $1,000 from First Citizens on March 14, at the National Library. The challenge is an online sports quiz intended to foster an interest in…

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The Trinidad Guardian / Madame Justice Paula-Mae Weekes takes the oath of office this morning at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, in a ceremony which will be witnessed by hundreds at the venue and thousands of others who will view the event live on national television. She will become the country’s first female President and…

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The Trinidad Guardian / Over the past few weeks the parents of swimmers who have been selected to represent T&T at the March 31 to April 5 Carifta Swimming Championships in Jamaica have been raising questions about the cost for their children to represent this country at the event. ASATT has selected 25 swimmers and…

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The Trinidad Guardian / Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly will deliver the feature address and formally commission the refurbished New Village Community Centre at Pilgrim Street, New Village, Point Fortin on Tuesday, March 20, at 2 pm. The completion of this facility is part of the Ministry’s ongoing Community…

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The Trinidad Guardian / A Marabella man who was shot by police after he allegedly drew a gun at them is in serious condition at hospital. The 25-year-old man, of Battoo Avenue, was shot once in the chest and three times in his legs. Police said the man had a Glock 17 pistol loaded with…